Clarkson Research Professor Dana Barry was an invited guest speaker for the 28th International Conference on Knowledge-Based and Intelligent Information & Engineering Systems held in Serville, Spain. She also served as a Cochair for the conference’s symposium called Smart Education: Learning environment using technology. Her presentation took place on Sept. 12, and was titled Creating Virtual Worlds and Designing Games.
Barry started her talk by defining virtual worlds as computer-based environments where users can interact by using an avatar or playable characters that are included in video games. She mentioned that individuals can make a virtual world by joining a virtual world platform like Second Life and creating their own space. For example, Barry and her collaborator Professor Hideyuki Kanematsu of Japan used their avatars to carry out many problem-based learning activities in virtual classrooms with students in Second Life on an island owned by Nagaoka University of Technology in Japan. This island, with its virtual buildings and classrooms, is the university’s created space in SL. To create a virtual world from scratch, a game engine is needed. Barry obtained information about preparing video games by interviewing and observing SUNY Canton students pursuing studies on that topic. She analyzed the results of their survey forms. In addition, she reviewed the literature, interviewed experts on the topic, and played and analyzed a variety of video games on her own.